Fanfiction Island
by MrGooseyMoose
Summary: Hungry for adventure, Tai sets out with the Digidestined to explore a new island in the Digital World. Soon after they arrive, though, unusual love stories begin to present themselves to the group, and tensions begin to arise. Taito.
1. Welcome To Fanfiction Island

**Hello fellow fan boys and fan girls, and welcome to my latest feature length fic: Fanfiction Island!**

**I have a couple of things that I need to go through, here, so please pay attention everybody. Firstly, and most importantly, I want to go ahead and thank the following authors: Candid Ishida, Neo-chan, Psycho Weasel, KeruKeru and Takato the dreamer. These five fabulous people have very kindly allowed me to reference bits and pieces of their own taito/yamachi stories within this fic. My efforts, here, would not have been possible without your input guys. For that, you get cookies. *offers cookies***

**(May I also go off on a tangent, here, and say that these are five of my very favourite fanfiction storytellers, too. Please take the time to look them up if you haven't already. You won't regret it.)**

**Secondly, I must go ahead and thank one Danzi the Dragon for offering the original concept of a Fanfiction Island whilst we were in bed together. My efforts, here, would also not have been possible without your input. Have a cookie. *offers cookie***

**Well...I think that's all for now.**

**Get reading! :)**

**A/N: I have edited this chapter. Now there is shorter narration and less indulgent description. Also, a couple of scenes have been cut. **

* * *

><p>"Hey…" Tai started, his right eye gazing intently through his favourite, mini telescope. It was pointed out towards the sea. "…what's that over there?"<p>

"What's what over where?" Matt asked, casually taking the telescope from Tai's grasp. He peeked through it. "You mean that island?"

Tai took it back with ease. "Yeah. I've never noticed it before."

"Well…" Matt claimed the telescope again, and pressed it against his eye. "…now that you mention it, it doesn't look all that familiar…"

"Who cares?" Joe piped in, attempting to take the telescope for his own. He couldn't tug it from Matt's grasp, though. "There must be a thousand different islands we haven't explored before."

"Yeah, but…"

"What are you guys doing all the way over here?" Mimi interrupted, strolling into view with a vacant expression on her face. She was wearing a frilly pink bathing suit. "You're gonna miss out on getting a tan."

Joe sighed. "I don't tan well."

"Do you do anything well, Joe?" Gomamon laughed, clambering along a couple of rocks behind Mimi. "What are you all doing up here?"

"Apparently, not getting a tan." Matt said.

Tai used the momentary distraction to re-claim his telescope from the blonde. "We're checking out a new island!"

"Why? Are we going on an adventure?" Biyomon squeaked, flapping in their direction.

"No, no." Joe shook his head. "We're just looking at it. That's all."

"Biyomon!" Sora called, making her way atop their little summit. "Biyo…! Oh, here you are silly." She smiled.

"Did you hear? We're going on an adventure!" Biyomon beamed.

"An adventure?" T.K. and Patamon shouted in unison, appearing next to Sora. "About time!"

"No, no, _no_!" Joe wailed. "We're here to play at the beach, not to get ourselves killed by evil digimon and ancient booby traps and…"

"C'mon, what are the odds of any of those things happening?" Tai laughed, getting to his feet. He dusted off his shorts and moved to put a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Besides, it doesn't look dangerous."

"Neither did Monzaemon, but…"

"Way to keep the cat in the loop." Gatomon cut in, dropping from an overhead tree all of a sudden. "We're going somewhere?"

"Well, we've not really decided what we're doing yet…" Tai said, shrugging his shoulders.

"We're not going!" Joe stamped up and down.

"…but y'know, it has been a long time since we did anything worthwhile around here." Matt smirked, ignoring Joe's input. "It could be good for us to go exploring. For old times' sake."

"Yeah." T.K. beamed. "We can just think of it as a vacation."

Sora nodded. "We could go sight-seeing, sleep under the stars…"

"Maybe even find some great deals…" Mimi added, more to herself than to anybody else.

"It'll be a blast!" Patamon exclaimed.

Gatomon yawned. "I guess we should pack our things then, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah!" Biyomon squawked, rising into the air. "I'll go tell the others!"

"W-wait a minute!" Joe tried, grabbing Biyomon by the leg. "Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves here?"

"What do you mean?"

"We don't have any way of getting to that island!"

"But, we…" Tai stepped forward, lacking any retort. His cheeks flushed. "…uh…"

"We need a boat." Matt said, simply.

"A boat?" Gomamon asked. "I know where we can find a boat."

"I don't know why I'm friends with you." Joe sighed.

"Oh, c'mon." Gomamon said. "This could be fun, Joe."

"Yeah. Sure."

"So we're agreed, then?" Sora smiled, oblivious to the sarcasm in Joe's voice.

"Yeah." Tai put his hand over Joe's mouth before he had a chance to voice another one of his brilliant arguments, and grinned. "We're going!"

* * *

><p>Tai and the others made their way back towards the beach, where they found Izzy, Kari, Palmon and Agumon laying together on a stretch of soft, colourful towels. Gabumon and Tentomon were sat further away, constructing a large sand castle.<p>

"We were starting to wonder where you had all got to." Kari said, sitting up with a smile when they approached. "Why do you look so…happy?"

"Well..." Tai began. "We've just come up with an idea."

Something in Tai's voice made Agumon quiver excitedly. He raised his head. "What is it?"

"We're going on an adventure!" The brunet exclaimed, a childlike smile stretching from one ear to the other.

"Where to?"

"An island we spotted off at sea." Matt answered. "We wanna go exploring."

"Why?" Palmon asked, looking curiously at Mimi. "Don't you want to sunbath anymore?"

"Sure Palmon, but…"

"We're going to an island off the coast." Sora explained. "And when we get there, you'll still be able to sunbathe if you want to."

"Uh oh!" Gabumon shouted out suddenly. The group turned around, half-startled, and found that the sand castle had collapsed onto an upside down Tentomon.

"Somebody help me!" The digimon buzzed, moving his legs about in a frantic panic.

"It's just sand, Tentomon..." Izzy sighed, and walked over to free him from the sand prison.

"But sand is made from ground up rocks!" Tentomon whined. "And rocks are _heavy_!"

"You're such a baby."

"So…" Tai began, looking away from the bickering pair. "Where's this boat you were talking about, Gomamon?"

"It's not far. I'll take you there now if you want."

"Ok. Let's do it."

"We'll come along as well." Matt smiled, taking Gomamon by the paw.

"I'd better tag along, too. Otherwise these guys won't come back for hours…" Joe huffed to himself and grabbed his bag, following behind the already departing group.

"Wait up!" Agumon exclaimed, pushing past Joe to catch up with Tai.

"Have fun guys!" Sora waved. Izzy and Tentomon continued to squabble with each other, unaware of what had been going on around them. The others lay back down on their respective towels.

* * *

><p>"We're almost there!" Gomamon called out after a few minutes of journeying beneath the toasting sun.<p>

Joe furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't see anything."

"Right…_there_." Gomamon lifted a paw and pointed it into the distance. Hanging by the shore up ahead was a small, wooden dock.

"There's a boat over there?"

"Yah-huh."

"I don't suppose this boat of yours was here when we needed to get to Server that time." Matt said, flicking a strand of hair out of his eyes. "Was it?"

"Maybe. It must have slipped my mind at the time."

Joe groaned.

"What? Things worked out for us fine without it, right?"

"I guess…"

"Is it big enough to fit us all on without getting my fur wet?" Gabumon asked, intrigued.

"Sure." Gomamon laughed. "We might even get most of Mimi's clothes on board if we try hard enough."

"Enough talk, guys. Let's get to it already!" Tai bounced up and down. "Race you there!"

"Huh, keep up if you can." Matt smirked, setting off at a sprint beside the bushy haired boy. Joe and the three digimon looked at each other, and shrugged.

"You know, humans are weird."

"You said it…"

* * *

><p>"Ah-ha!" Tai panted, his arms raised victoriously. "I beat you!"<p>

"You got lucky, soccer boy." Matt laughed, doubled over.

"Just admit it. I'm the model athlete."

"Geez, with a head that big I'm surprised you can walk straight."

"I know, right? I'm a marvel!"

"Whatever." Matt rolled his eyes, still smiling. "So this is it, huh?"

Tai followed Matt's gaze towards a shiny white boat that was sitting in the water. "Huh. Hard to believe that this has been sat here for all this time..."

"Yeah."

They remained where they stood for a while, the slight sounds of Joe and the three digimon approaching from somewhere behind them, and watched as the boat rocked from side to side in the breeze.

"…all aboard!" Tai bellowed all of a sudden, reaching out and grasping at the sides of the boat.

"Y'know, you can just use the…"

"Aah!" Tai slipped from the dock, but Matt grabbed him and pulled him back to his feet before he could fall very far.

"Easy, Tai." Matt said, offering a small, reassuring squeeze. "No need to be such a numbskull."

"Y-yeah." The brunette scratched his head, embarrassed. He released himself from Matt's grasp, taking care not to accidently touch the boy's hand, and bounded over towards the walkway. He turned to send a rekindled, toothy grin in Matt's direction. "Come on, let's go!"

* * *

><p>"Does anyone else hear a…horn?" Sora enquired, sitting up from her towel.<p>

Mimi gasped. "I thought I was imagining it!"

"If you were, then your imagination is really loud…" Izzy murmured, tapping various keys on his laptop. The horn sounded again.

"I think it's coming from over there." Kari pointed to their left. As she pointed, a boat came into view from around the corner and raced through the water towards them. It beeped its horn again.

"They must have found the boat!" T.K. shouted, getting to his feet.

"Wow." Patamon rose into the air and landed upon T.K.s head. "It looks big."

"I concur." Tentomon added, as he hovered about above the group. "It will likely have the capacity to hold all of us."

"Yay!" Mimi and Palmon cheered, simultaneously.

In the time that it took for everybody to collect their things together, the boat had reached the bottom of the shore and lowered a rubber ladder down into the shallow water beneath. A final blast from the horn sounded out.

"Ahoy up there!" T.K. shouted, running towards the boat.

"Ahoy!" Matt replied from the deck. He leaned over the railings. "Climb on up already, T.K.!"

With Patamon upon his head, T.K. entered the water and climbed up the ladder. The others followed quickly in his wake.

"I feel sea-sick…" Joe moaned whilst the final member of the group pulled themselves on board.

"You always feel sea sick." Mimi replied.

"Even on land." Gomamon added with a small laugh.

At that, the sound of the boat's horn boomed, and Tai's voice belted out to accompany it from an overhead speaker. "All aboard the digimon cruise! We will be making no stops between here and Adventure Island, fellow explorers, so I hope you've all been to the bathroom already! Please be sure to check that you have all of your personal belongings and digimon partners with you."

"Oh no…!"

"Ready?"

"Tai, now that you mention it…!"

"Aaaaand we're off!" Tai interrupted, leaving Sora with her arms crossed and her lips fixed into a frown. They had left their towels on the beach.

"Stupid Tai…" She mumbled.

With another blast from the horn, and with another scowl from Sora, the boat turned away from the shore and headed out towards the sea with a great burst of speed. File Island fell behind them, and the bright blue waves swallowed them up.

* * *

><p>"Sure, Tai. I don't mind taking over the wheel for a while." Izzy nodded, in answer to the boy who was currently bent over a large, red steering wheel. "But can you teach me a few things about it?"<p>

"Oh, I'm not really…"

"Firstly, how do I make it stop when we've reached our destination? And what fuel does it run on? You know, just out of professional curiosity."

"I don't…"

"And what happens if we get hit by a tidal wave?" Tentomon pitched in all of a sudden, buzzing beside Tai's head.

"Also…"

"Who do you think I am, Captain Tai?" He interrupted, giving the wheel a huge spin to the right with a whoosh sound for good measure. "I don't know about any of those things."

Izzy nodded. "That's ok. I'll just figure it out on my own."

Tai jumped away from the wheel. "Sure. Have fun, I guess..."

"Oh, we will." Izzy replied, ignoring the sarcasm in his friend's voice.

Tai left the control room with a small shake of his head and walked out onto the deck, where the rest of the group were currently lazing about and enjoying themselves. Sora was the only one who had taken notice of him. She seemed to be staring in his direction with an angry look in her eyes. Tai, feeling a particularly uncourageous chill run down his spine, pretended not to see her and walked quickly to the opposite side of the boat.

"Er, what was that Matt?" He called out, engaging the blonde in sudden conversation.

"What? I didn't say any…"

"Shh! Work with me here." Tai tried, pulling Matt closer by the shoulder. "I think Sora is angry with me."

"What did you do this time?"

"How should I know?" Tai asked.

Matt pulled away with a well-placed smirk and peeked through the telescope in his hand. "You two are like an old, bickering couple sometimes. You know that?"

"So what?"

"I'm just saying." He shrugged. "Maybe it's love."

"…shut up, Matt." Tai muttered, giving the blonde a small push with one hand. "And what are you doing with my telescope?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Matt asked. "I'm checking out the island."

"But…" Tai started, confused. "…why do you have it?"

"Because. We were sharing."

"Yeah, we were. And then I took it back."

"Yeah." He agreed with a nod. "And then I borrowed it from your pocket when you almost fell from the dock earlier."

"Gee, some friendship this is." Tai muttered. "I can't even rely on you to keep your hands out of my shorts."

Matt smirked in response, and then began to laugh to himself. Tai wasn't entirely sure what he'd said that had been so funny. Nor did he understand why the oh-so cool Matt had started to blush so brightly. Matt wouldn't explain it to him, either.

* * *

><p>"Whoa." The group uttered in a collective whisper. They had reached the island and descended from their boat without issue, and were now walking down a wooden port with tentative feet, heads raised to attention all the while.<p>

"Welcome. To." Tai began, voicing the words that everybody else was reading. "Fanfiction. Island?"

"What's a Fanfiction Island?" Agumon enquired.

Kari shrugged, eyes still raised upward. "I guess this place is."

Standing tall and reaching high into the sky was a sign. It read, in bright, flickering, fluorescent light bulbs:

WELCOME TO FANFICTION ISLAND.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh, hot chocolate. You sweet, sweet temptress, you...<strong>

***drools***

**Oh, hi everybody! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Just one note for those who intend to come back for the next instalment: this story is gonna have some serious delays between updates. Sorry 'bout that!**

**Anyway, please leave your thoughts!**


	2. Into The Fiction Forest

**Hey there everybody. Thanks for taking the time to come back here.**

**I wish to offer thanks to the authors ****Tyson FoxFlame**** and ****neko no warai**** for very kindly allowing me to reference and quote parts of their taito/yamachi stories within this fic. Thanks, guys. Have some cookies. *offers cookies***

**Take the time to check out their pages, everybody. Really.**

**I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to get here. I would offer an explanation, but I don't really have one. I've just been really unmotivated, and y'know...**

**Anyways, instead of listening to me blather on, how about we all sit down, read, and have some good ol' taito/yamachi fun? **

* * *

><p>"Uh…what's up?" Tai tried, looking down from the sign above him and becoming caught in the raging pits that were Sora's angry eyes. "Sora?"<p>

"You left the towels on File Island."

"I didn't have any towels."

"But _we _did." She growled through gritted teeth. "And you shot off before we could go back and get them."

"I did?" He asked, tensely. "Oh."

"Don't 'oh' me, Tai."

"C'mon. They're only towels Sora. You don't need to be so…"

"We have no towels?" Palmon interrupted, looking up at Tai with huge, glowering eyes. "But…what will we lie down on?"

"The sand?"

Mimi gasped. "You expect me to get sand in my hair?"

"It's only sand Mimi."

"Only sand?" Her eyebrows lowered. "You know, you can be a real creep sometimes."

"…geez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the queen sized mattress this morning." Matt murmured.

"What was that, blondie?"

"Nothing." He assured, timidly holding his hands up in front of him. Tai gave him a look that said 'coward'. Matt returned one that said 'whatever'.

"Please stop arguing everyone." Biyomon squeaked, flapping about around Sora's head. "We're supposed to be having fun!"

"Well, I don't even see what the problem is…" Tai mumbled.

Sora took a step towards him. "The problem is that you don't think of anybody but yourself!"

"You know…" Izzy interrupted. "Some might say that your constant trivial bickering is just masking your secret longing for each other."

"What?" Tai exclaimed, taking a step away from Sora.

"You're crazy." Sora added. She crossed her arms.

"Guys, this really isn't the time." Joe interrupted. "Save it for when we're back on File Island."

"Joe's right." Gomamon sniggered. "For once."

"H-hey!"

"Yeah. We need to focus." Matt murmured.

"I don't smell any digimon nearby." Agumon noted.

"Me neither." Gabumon stuck his nose into the air and inhaled deeply. "Do you think that means it's safe?"

Tai stepped up beside the digimon. "I don't know. Digimon or not, it could still be dangerous."

"Remind me: why are we here again?" Joe asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Ah, loosen up Joe." Gomamon smiled. He padded a flipper down against one of Joe's shoes affectionately. "Nothing bad will happen when you've got me here to protect you."

He laughed. "That's reassuring."

"The mysteries of Fanfiction Island will cower beneath us digimon." Gomamon grinned. The other digimon puffed up their chests and flexed their muscles playfully.

"You guys are weird." Joe sighed.

"Does anyone even know what a fanfiction is?" Sora interrupted, deliberately avoiding Tai's gaze. "I don't think I've heard of it before.

"Fanfiction..." Izzy offered, automatically. "...is fiction based on existing fictional material, written by fans of the original work rather than by the original creator."

"And what does that have to do with this island?"

"...we can only speculate."

"Well, speculation isn't going to get us anywhere. So let's get moving!" Tai said with a cheery clench of the fist. "We don't wanna waste the whole day here, do we?"

Joe sulked. "But..."

"The sooner we set off, the sooner we get back." Kari assured, looking up at Joe with a smile.

"But..."

"Then it's settled! Company...!" Tai threw a finger out in front of him and pointed towards a distant patch of forest. "...march!"

* * *

><p>"So which way should we go?" Mimi asked, unable to decipher the signpost that stood in front of them. It was dirty and cluttered, and it pointed off towards every direction.<p>

"I think we should go this way." Tai said.

"Why?"

"Because it says 'Tai'. Look." He pointed towards the word in question. His name was jammed onto a minuscule portion of the signpost, and it pointed towards a distant forest. "See?"

"But..." Sora carefully barged into Tai as she moved to stand next to him.

"It's not like we have any better ideas." Matt stomped past them impatiently. "Let's just go already."

"Hey. Wait up!" Tai followed after the blonde, and the rest of the group followed after Tai.

Patamon, however, lingered behind for a moment to examine the sign some more.

"Hmm..." The digimon expelled a tiny boom bubble that impacted with the signpost and lifted a great cloud of dust from it. The word 'Tai' now appeared to say 'Taito'. With a shrug, Patamon caught up to the group and sat down on T.K.'s head, deciding that such a strange word probably wasn't worth the trouble of thought.

* * *

><p>"This is weird." T.K. said, walking beside his brother with Patamon still atop his head.<p>

Matt nodded but remained silent.

"What do we do?"

"Ignore it."

Ahead of them lay a path that was littered with mounds of freshly printed paper; around and above that path stood trees with fully bloomed branches, which hung low, and wide. Along some of those branches, and embedded into most of the tree trunks, were slots that glowed and buzzed and whirred with every few moments, emitting more sheets of paper.

"But..."

"It's just Digiworld being weird again, T.K."

Beside them, Izzy bent down to pick up a few dusty sheets of paper. He lifted it to his line of sight. "Perhaps something here could help us to understand the purpose of this island..."

"I guess." Matt shrugged, not really paying attention.

Tai, meanwhile, was walking along a few steps behind Matt, his eyes lost in the blonde's locks and his feet narrowly avoiding tripping over each other.

"Why are you staring at Matt, Tai?" Agumon piped in after Tai's third stumble.

"I-I'm not...!" Tai spluttered, halting, and holding Agumon's mouth shut with both hands.

Matt's posture stiffened slightly at the sound of his name, but he didn't otherwise respond.

Tai sighed silently.

Agumon looked confused. "Igh uh iiy ou ah...!"

"Well I'm not." Tai laughed nervously, glancing briefly at the blonde. He released Agumon from his grip."I was just daydreaming."

"Like always." Kari giggled as she passed by them.

"C'mon you guys, keep up." Gatomon purred, trotting along beside Kari.

"You too, Izzy." Tentomon buzzed from above them. "You're walking at a digi-snail's pace."

Tai looked to his side. Izzy stood there, slowed almost to a complete stop and sporting an expression of total focus. "Uh...what are you reading Izzy?"

"Huh?"

"It must be interesting, whatever it is. You're falling behind."

"What, this? Not really." Izzy answered, avoiding eye contact.

"What is it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"You wouldn't like it."

Tai shrugged and looked over Izzy's shoulder. He caught a glimpse of the title at the top of the page: _And Then, My Love..._

"Are you reading...romance?"

"No. Just..."

"Let me see more." Tai pulled the sheet away from the redhead and began to read.

_These days, I dread coming to school. It's not like I'm a loser or anything, I have plenty of people to hang out with. I'm in a band with three other guys, Akira, Yutaka, and Takashi, so I spend a lot of my time practicing. I play bass and acoustic and I'd say I'm excellent. (Ok, I'm not really that self-centred) When most people look at me, they think my life must be pretty good, like I've got it easy. It's not true though. Sometimes I feel like I have no identity, like my whole life and the way I act are just one big lie._

"Yeah. What a snooze-fest." Tai laughed and handed the sheet back to Izzy.

"I told you that you wouldn't like it."

"Yeah..." Tai halted, and pulled the page back out of Izzy's grasp. "...wait. What's that?"

"Nothing. Give it back."

Tai pulled away from Izzy. "But it says my name!"

"You're misreading!"

"No I'm not. Look!" He pointed at the first line of the second paragraph. "It says: _I only have one really close friend, Yagami Taichi."_

"It's probably just a coincidence."

"If you thought that, then you wouldn't be hiding it from me."

"Tai. Just give it back."

"I will when you tell me what it is."

"I...don't know what it is." Izzy conceded. "It's something that I picked up from the floor a few moments ago. I've not read it all yet. But..."

"But...?"

"But it, well..."

"What?"

"Would you guys keep up? You're slowing down our adventure!" Mimi sang at the pair.

"I..." Izzy mumbled.

"Spit it out Izzy."

"I think it's about us."

Tai halted, confused. "...us?"

"Well. Some of us."

"What do you mean 'some of us'?"

"I mean, so far it appears to be about Matt."

"Matt?"

"Yes. He seems to be the narrator. And Sora seems to be his..."

"What?"

"...girlfriend." Izzy whispered, seemingly hesitant.

Tai swallowed. "Slow down a minute. Did you say...girlfriend?"

"Yes. And you're..."

"I'm...?"

"You're his secret... I mean, his best friend."

"His best friend?"

"Yes. Well, not exactly." He shrugged. "Maybe."

"Geez, enough with the riddles. I already told you: spit it out!"

"I think - in this story, Tai - you might be his secret...crush."

"His what?"

"Don't make me say it again."

The brunet glared. "Say it, Izzy."

"His...crush."

"His crush." Tai confirmed.

"Yes."

"Let me get this straight. You're telling me that somebody's been writing a story."

"Yes."

"About Matt and his...girlfriend, Sora."

"Yes."

"And his "secret crush". Which is...me, right?"

"Well...yes."

"Are you insane?" Tai exploded hysterically. "I knew I shouldn't have let you steer the ship, you've come down with cabin fever or something."

"That didn't even make sense."

"It makes more sense than what you just said."

"Fine. Then why don't you just read it yourself? How about..." Izzy pointed to a line near the bottom of the page. "...here. My favourite part. Read it."

"Fine." Taichi crossed his arms and peered at the sheet in Izzy's hand.

_I'm greeted by the sight of Taichi, I haven't seen him yet today, and his presence puts me at ease. He's the vanilla to go with my Rocky Road. I bet we would taste good together._

"...I bet we would ta-" Tai made a choking sound all of a sudden and his cheeks began to brighten. "Wh-wh-what _is _this?"

"That's what I've been trying to tell you. It's some kind of love story about you and..."

"M-M-M-M-M-"

"Yes. Matt."

"M-M-M-M-M-"

"Why is it so quiet?" Izzy asked, turning away from the bumbling leader and looking up the path.

"M-M-M-M-M-"

"I think we've lost the others Tai." He shook his head. "We should go after them before we lose our way. C'mon. We can talk about this later."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey again. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!<strong>

**Once more I'm going to apologise for the unbelievable wait. Sorry.  
><strong>

**I want to promise that I'll get better, and that I'll update faster, and that I'll sit down and finish off this story sometime soon...but I can't. I'm having a really hard time when it comes to writing, lately, and that probably won't change anytime in the near future. And I don't mean to give cheap excuses, but right now that's all I have.**

**Anyway. **

**In this chapter I used a section of the fic: ****And Then, My Love****. It was written by ****Candid Ishida****, and it is a very fine, very cute, very SQUEEEEE-inducing piece of taito. It's one of my personal favourite fics, too, and one of the very first fics I ever read. Please go and read it? Pretty, pretty please?**

**All the best!  
><strong>


	3. The Taito Resort

"Hmm..." Matt hummed, carefully peering through Tai's mini telescope. The forest trail had brought them out beside a sun kissed beach, and from what Matt could tell, there was a building positioned on the opposite side of it.

"What do you see?"

"A beach house, I think."

T.K.'s eyes lit up. "Do you think somebody might live there?"

"Don't count on it." Matt answered, looking down at his younger brother with a warm smile. "But let's go and check it out anyway."

The group followed behind Matt and T.K. at a leisurely pace, most of them casually enjoying the summery seaside air. Agumon, however, was staring at the ground unhappily.

"What's wrong, Agumon?" Joe asked.

"Tai hasn't caught up with us yet." Agumon answered. "I'm worried."

"I think Izzy was showing him something." Tentomon buzzed from above.

Kari smiled. "They'll be fine Agumon. Don't worry. It's like Gabumon said when we arrived: there aren't any other Digimon on this island."

"Do you want me to go and look for them just in case?" Biyomon offered, flapping her wings courageously.

"No." Sora answered with crossed arms.

Biyomon dropped back to the ground, disheartened.

"Gee. What's with the sudden catitude, Sora?" Gatomon asked.

"I don't have an attitude." She replied. "I just meant that Tai will be – I mean, Tai and Izzy will be fine without us. They can handle themselves."

"Yes. Sora's right everybody." Biyomon smiled. "We shouldn't worry."

The group fell silent at the digimon's assurance and reached the other side of the beach without many other words. They made their way up a set of steps and onto a decked path, which led to the building that Matt had noticed earlier.

"What is this place?" Kari asked.

"According to the signpost..." Tentomon began.

"Again with the signposts?" Joe interjected.

"...we are at the Taito Resort." Tentomon finished, buzzing. A moment of quiet confusion followed Tentomon's statement.

"Taito!" Patamon exclaimed all of a sudden, flapping his ears happily. "I've seen that word before! It was written on the sign we saw before we entered the forest."

"It was?"

"Hmm..."

"What do you think it means?"

"It doesn't matter what it means, guys. All that matters right now is how safe this place is." Matt interrupted. "I trust Gabumon when he says that there isn't anybody else here, but...there's something about this whole island that puts me on edge."

"I think you're just being paranoid." Mimi smiled.

Matt raised an unhappy eyebrow.

"Paranoid or not, it can't hurt to investigate. Right?" Sora said, stepping forward ahead of everybody else. She put a hand on the entrance. "And what's the worst that could happen?"

"We could all stay here overnight only to find that this place is actually an illusion conjured up by Devimon." Joe answered.

Gomamon sighed. "Oh, c'mon Joe. What are the chances of that happening to us twice?"

Joe almost smiled.

* * *

><p>"Hello?" Sora ventured, stepping through the front door. She spotted a desk across the room. On that desk sat a computer, a set of folders, and a small bell. She rang the latter. "Is anybody home?"<p>

"I guess not." Biyomon chirped after a few seconds, soaring in after her.

"This doesn't make any sense." Joe toyed with his glasses. "This place looks like a hotel reception to me, but..."

"...but what's the point in having a reception if nobody is here to watch over it?" Matt finished.

"Maybe it's just for show?" Mimi said.

"Yeah." Matt half-agreed, looking at a single, red rose that stood upright upon the reception desk. "Maybe."

The group split up and began to explore, deciding that they were never going to solve the mystery of the resort by standing around.

Matt stayed put, though. He guessed that somebody should probably wait around for Tai and Izzy to finally show up. He strolled over to the reception desk whilst he waited, and sat on the chair behind it, curiously flicking through the folders that lay on the desk. Each page within each folder was filled with streams of binary code. He wished Izzy would hurry up and arrive already. Giving up on the numbers for now, he switched on the computer.

"Maybe something on here will explain what's going on..."

When the computer had booted up Matt began to trawl through its documents. His bright eyes scanned many folders and files, none of which happened to read "Taito Resort", "Fanfiction Island", or even "Evil Digimon conspiracy to kill the Digidestined" (he had to admit that, maybe, Joe's paranoia was catching on). However, after several minutes of fruitless searching, he stumbled across a folder that was titled "Top Secret".

"Huh..." He smiled. "If they wanted to keep this secret, then they should have just named it history." He clicked on the folder with a mischievous glint in his eyes and it opened. Inside he found a list of sub folders.

_Matt's Concert Dates_

_Pictures of Matt _

_Matt's previous girlfriends_

_What he'll never know..._

Matt cautiously clicked on the bottom folder and entered it, one finger shaking – excitedly, or fearfully? – against the mouse that was in his hand. His other hand and its fingers absently stroked the rose on the desk. It wasn't real, he noted; it was made of some kind of material.

_What Yama-_

He stopped reading for a moment. "...Yama?"

_What Yama will never know._

_I still have his Linkin Park CD... I just don't know where it is..._

_I felt guilty for weeks after I broke his guitar and got it fixed without telling him_

_I used to try to scare the girls away from him_

_I dream about him regularly_

_I always want to be near him, even if he's angry_

_I hate it when he's angry at me_

_I hate it more when he'd sad_

_I admire how hard he works for his music and how much effort he puts into it, even if I never tell him_

_I want to try kissing him..._

_I..._

Well. Matt didn't know what a Linkin Park CD was, or why somebody thought that they had broken his guitar, or why that same person appeared to be so obsessively in love with him, but he was totally freaked out nonetheless. And kind of interested.

The list ended there, the tenth point written but not completed. From then on it seemed that the mystery admirer had continued their rambling in paragraph form. Unable to stop reading, Matt scrolled down.

_I don't know why I'm writing it on the computer. It doesn't change anything, but it still feels like my secret is suddenly in the open. Like when I go to school tomorrow, people will know something's different about me. _

"...school?"

_But it's not like it's wrong... I mean, he's my best friend! _

"Best friend?"

_Tons of best friends turn into something more, right? Just because I'm a boy... _

"B-boy?" Matt swallowed.

_Yeah, there's no hope, is there. I'm just... I'm just Tai -_

Matt's face become as white as the document that he was reading from. He crumpled into his chair.

_- to him. And he's the world to me. That's another thing he'll never know. And here's another: I think I love him._

"...what?"

_I was wrong. I know I love him._

"No. No, this can't be right. Th-there's gotta be some kind of mistake here." He rambled to himself, reading and re-reading the list in front of him.

_Tai_.

There was that name. Again.

_Tai._

And no matter how hard he looked at it, it didn't change.

_**Tai.**_

He wasn't imagining it. His best friend – his_ Tai_ – was, according to this random computer document, in love with him. But...

"This." Matt said, with his eyes wide and his body frozen in place. "Can't be real."

And then, with a small tinge of hope, he thought: "Could it?"

* * *

><p><strong>Hi everybody.<strong>

**In this chapter I used a hefty section of the fic: ****Top Secret****. It was written by ****neko no warai****, and it really is rather awesome. I absolutely love it and I'm sure that you will love it too, so go on and read it. Ya hear? **

**Also, at one point I made reference to the absolute monster of a taito fic, ****Black Rose**** by ****Tyson FoxFlame****. I would imagine that many taito readers have already read it, but if you haven't – go ahead and do so now because you are sorely deprived! (Really. Read it. Deadly serious.)**

**Anyways, moving along. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and I really am very sorry that it took so long to get here. You may have noticed that I haven't been posting anything lately. Hell, a few of you have even noticed that I've not really been reading anything on here as of late. You will have to excuse the inactivity. It's just...**

**Well, me and this site, we're a little estranged right now. Allow me to explain.**

_We started out hot and heavy, once upon a fanfic, with excitement around every corner of every Word document. Oh, how we never wanted to be apart! The memories! The steamy, forbidden memories!_

_But now...now, things are so very different. I moved out, and FF kept the kids; and whilst I will always love my old flame and the little bundles of joy that we created together, it doesn't change anything. We want different things. FF wants to keep on doing the same great thing that it's always done, whilst I just want to get out into the world and try my hand at something new: like blogging, and extra university work, and learning guitar, and extra masturb-jogging, and by the time that I've done all of those things, there's just no time or energy left to spare on pandering to the needs of my ex(.net). _

_It's me, FF, not you. Someday I'll get my act together and everything will be ok again. But until then, babe, you'll just have to do without me being constantly in your life._

**...did I take that a little too far? **

**What I'm trying to say is that I no longer spend every day thinking about what terrible ordeals I can put my OTP through, and instead I spend most of my days playing around with my new hobbies. So I won't be posting things very often. Sorry about that...**

**If you're willing to put up with me though, then uh...I love you! :D **


	4. A Romantic Getaway

"C'mon." Tai answered enthusiastically. "You want to get to the bottom of this, don'tcha?"

"Of course I do, Tai. But that doesn't mean we have to read every single story in the entire forest."

"We're not reading every single story." The brunet panted, heaving under the weight of stacked paper. He wore a carefully feigned smile on his face. "Just every story that I could carry."

"You know." Izzy half muttered, defeated. "You got over the shock of them at an exceptional speed..."

Tai halted, suspiciously narrowing his eyes. "So what? I'm quick to adapt."

"Sure." Izzy replied sarcastically. "That's the reason."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Izzy remained quiet for a moment. "Nothing, Tai. It means nothing."

"Good." Tai's smile returned and he continued to walk. "I'd hate it if I had to punch you for implying something about me."

They toiled on in silence beneath the scolding sunlight for a few minutes, before Izzy spoke up. "They must be in that building over there." He pointed to the horizon ahead.

"What makes you say that?"

"Their footprints are all over the beach."

Tai wobbled a little. "I knew that. I was just testing you."

"Whatever you say Tai."

They crossed the beach slowly and climbed a series of steps, which led them into the entrance yard of the Taito Resort. Tai, still carrying his stack of paper, walked up to the door and kicked it a few times.

Izzy remained further back, looking at the resort's signpost. He was frowning. "Tai..."

"It's about time you two showed up." Matt interrupted, opening the door. He seemed flustered.

"We were distracted." Tai attempted to shrug but almost lost balance.

"Do you know how much you worried Agumon?"

"He can take care of himself. He's a big dinosaur."

"He was worried about you, moron. Not himself."

"Ok, ok." Tai said hurriedly. "I get it. I'll go see him soon. Just help me with these, would ya?"

"What is all this?" Matt asked, as if seeing the paper then for the first time. They placed the stack on the reception desk carefully. "Did you bring these from that forest?"

"Sure did. I'm investigating them with Izzy."

Izzy walked past the pair and looked around. His gaze wondered from the rose on the table, to the heart shaped handles on all of the doors, and back towards the sign outside. He swallowed.

"Geez, what's with him?" Matt said out of the corner of his mouth, tilting his head towards the redhead.

The goggle-head shrugged in response.

"Tai I need to talk to you." Izzy said.

"What about?"

"Just come on." He grabbed Tai by the arm and pulled him back outside.

Matt turned to face the stack of paper, curiously.

"What's got into you, brainbox?" Tai shouted at Izzy, trying to keep his balance.

Izzy ignored him. "There's something wrong here Tai."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think those stories we read earlier might be linked to this resort."

"Really?" He exclaimed, excited. "How do you...?"

"Because, the signs have your name on! And this place looks like some kind of a romantic getaway. And the forest that led here is with filled with stories about you and Matt. And-" He halted. "Wait. Where are the stories Tai?"

"I left them with Matt." Tai responded cheerfully.

"With. Matt." Izzy repeated.

"Yes, with Matt. Is that a problem?"

Izzy looked down to his feet, anxiously. "He...might not be as quick to adapt to them as you were, should he read them."

"What do you..." His voice fizzled out into a noise that somewhat resembled 'uh oh'.

Izzy held his head in his hands.

"Matt!" Tai shouted, running back into the reception. "Matt! Matt! Don't read those things, they're not...!"

The room was empty. The stack of paper remained where it was, though, apparently untouched.

"Well, the good thing is that this will all make a funny story someday." Tai laughed nervously. "If he doesn't freak out and kill me before then, that is."

* * *

><p>"Hey, look. A phone." T.K. chirped, picking up the nearby telephone and holding it up to his ear. It sounded like somebody was already speaking when he picked it up. "Uh, hello? Who's this?"<p>

"..."

"Who is it T.K.?" Patamon asked, flapping about around his head.

"A woman I think. I don't know." He answered. "Hey Kari, come listen with me."

Kari edged closer to him and they held the phone between their ears.

"I can't hear what she's saying."

"I can't either." Kari agreed. "Put it on speaker phone."

T.K. did as he was told.

A soft, sensuous female voice came to being within the corridor. "..._said himself, he might be gone the whole hour! We definitely have a little bit of time_-"

"T.K.?" Matt interrupted, appearing suddenly behind his younger brother. He was sliding a folded piece of paper into his pocket. "What are you guys listening to?"

"We don't know." He shrugged. "There's this woman on the phone, and..."

"Hey. Matt!"

"Oh no." Matt whispered to himself, hesitantly turning to face the oncoming source of raucous energy. "Uh, hi Tai. What is it?"

"We were just wondering where you had disappeared to, and..."

"I didn't disappear." Matt crossed his arms and leaned against one of the corridor walls. "I just went for a walk."

"Right." Tai put his hands in his pockets. "Well, I was wondering. Did you read any of those stories that were on the desk? Because you weren't supposed to. I didn't want you to see..."

"..._and with that he undid his pants, finally letting out the throbbing erection he had in his shorts_." The sensuous voice spoke, playfully.

Tai and Matt turned to face the telephone, very, very slowly.

"What-"

"-did she just say?"

"'_Gaah.' Matt said_." She continued.

"No I didn't!" Matt panicked.

T.K. looked confused. "What's going on?"

"I-I don't know T.K.".

"..._Tai started focusing his rubbing on just below his head, that was Matt's weak spot_."

"When was Tai rubbing your head Matt?"

"Does she know you Tai?"

"N-No!" Tai stuttered, his senses finally returning to him. He shut off the phone and the voice disappeared, only to be replaced by the sound of rapid breathing.

Matt's heart was racing. What had they just listened to? He stood there, eyes unsure of which way to stare, darting from the phone to the luxurious decorations on the walls, to Tai's own unsure pupils.

The brunet looked away immediately, as if hoping not to be caught staring.

This was all too much. The folder in the computer files, the story in his pocket, and now this? Matt crumpled into the wall behind him. His head hurt.

* * *

><p>"What's up with Matt?" Joe asked, entering the reception with Izzy at his side.<p>

"Oh, uh, I don't know." Izzy stumbled over his words, looking over at the blue eyed boy. He was sat in the chair behind the reception desk, with Gabumon quietly stood next to him. "It's been a long day. It's probably best just to leave him for a while."

"Yeah. I guess you're right."

"Hey you two. Have you found anything interesting around here yet?" Mimi asked, smiling. Without waiting for an answer she continued. "Well, I found a hot tub. A romantic, couple-sized hot tub."

"And I found some old sports equipment." Sora continued, appearing at her side. "We could play a game of volleyball together if we set up a net on the beach."

"Forget volleyball. Did anybody find sun cream? I'm starting to burn up..." Joe said, his arms hanging limp at his sides.

"Nope, sorry." Mimi laughed in a carefree kind of way. "But that reminds me. Sun cream was on sale last time I checked at the mall!"

"Very helpful Mimi." Joe said sarcastically.

"So, do you two have any ideas on what this place is?" Sora asked. "I'm still unsure, but to me it seems like..."

"A romantic getaway?" Izzy finished, apprehensively.

"Yes!" She replied. "That's exactly what I thought, Izzy."

"You think?" Joe asked, looking around. "Well, I guess everything_ is_ a little...red."

"And the doorknobs are all heart shaped."

Palmon stuck her head out from behind Mimi. "And there's a rose on the desk."

"And don't forget the hot tub...!" Mimi sang.

"Interesting..." Izzy rubbed his chin, feigning thought. Of course it was a romantic getaway, but what the others were yet to deduce was that it was a romantic getaway designed, somehow, for Tai and Matt. It sounded impossible, but it had to be true. He was convinced. The stories that fell from the trees on the road to the resort, the signposts with Tai's name on that plagued the trail, the phone call that Tai had mentioned, which told mature stories about the pair – it all added up, kind of.

"So have you two found anything, anyway?"

"Not much." Joe answered. "Just a bunch of locked doors. Rooms for guests, probably."

"Oh? There must be keys in here somewhere, since this is the reception." Mimi smiled.

"Keys? You're not thinking of using those rooms are you?" Joe shook, anxiously.

"Of course. We are guests after all." Tai jumped into the conversation from nowhere, carefully eyeing Sora. "Right Sora?"

Matt shifted a little in his seat across the room.

"Well, the evening is already drawing near..." Sora said. She looked ready to fold her arms, but softened upon seeing Tai's goofy grin. She settled for narrowed eyebrows. "Even if we were to head back now, we would probably just end up sailing in the dark."

"You're right, that sounds like an even worse idea than just staying here..."

"Guys, look what I found!" Mimi waved at them, standing next to the sulking Matt with a pair of keys in her hand. "The drawer beneath the desk is full of them!"

"Well, that's settled then." Sora smiled. "Now before we pick out rooms, who wants to help me set up the volleyball net?"

* * *

><p>"Kari, you wanna bunk with me?" Tai asked.<p>

"No thanks. Don't take it the wrong way, but you snore too much." She held a hand over her mouth and tried not to laugh. "I'll just share with T.K."

"We share a bedroom back home. I figured you'd be used to it..."

Kari shrugged, and began to leave the room. "Sorry."

"Ah, whatever. Go have your little sleepover with your friend. I'll just go and find someone who _can_ stand my snoring." He turned to face the boy in the doorway and smiled, charmingly.

"What?" Matt asked with his arms crossed. "Don't look at me."

Tai stamped to floor, frustrated. "Wait, _you_ won't even share with me?"

"Why don't you ask Sora?" Matt offered.

"And get evil eyes all night? No thanks." Tai rolled his eyes. "C'mon, dude. What's your problem?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing." Matt repeated, blue eyes pointed sternly. "I just don't want to share with you tonight. Don't take it personally."

"But it is personal." Tai whined, hurt.

Matt shrugged.

"Is this because of those stories from before?"

"What? N-"

"Or that phone call? Because I totally understand why you'd be freaked out." Tai felt a pang of sadness as he said that, however he swallowed the feeling as deeply as he could. "But I'm not going to do anything to yo-"

"I know that Tai." Matt responded, a little louder than intended.

Tai lowered his eyes, taken aback. He would normally fight back, say something, offer a shove; but a quiver in the blonde boy's voice had taken the fight clean out of him.

"I'll share a room with you if you want." Izzy said from behind the blonde. "…if Matt really doesn't want to tonight."

Tai glanced at Matt for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, then looked back at Izzy and smiled. "Cool. I hope you don't mind my, er, snoring."

* * *

><p>"Do you think he doesn't…like me anymore?"<p>

"I'm sure he still likes you." Izzy replied, seemingly more interested in his laptop than in the conversation at hand.

"Maybe I did something to upset him and I didn't realise it at the time."

"It's possible." Izzy nodded. "Matt can be sensitive sometimes."

"Yeah. And I speak without thinking sometimes." Tai sighed. "I might have said something and he might have taken it the wrong way and I might not have noticed and…"

"Take a breath, Tai." Agumon said, taking hold of the brunet's hand.

"…he can't take a joke and I always end up being the bad guy 'cause I can't shut my big mouth!"

"If you really think you've said something to offend him, then maybe you should go and talk to him about it." The dinosaur offered. "Show him that you didn't mean it."

"You might be right."

Agumon smiled. "Uh huh."

"But, from what I saw earlier…he doesn't really want to talk to me." He fell silent for a moment, before dropping his voice to that of a mutter. "So much for the child of friendship. He doesn't even like his best friend."

"He does like you, Tai. Don't be so negative." Izzy assured, looking up momentarily. "He's probably just going through some of his own problems right now and taking them out on you."

"It wouldn't be the first time." Tai mumbled. "Hey, do you think those stories from today might have bothered him?"

"Well, uh..." Izzy shifted where he sat, nervously.

"What?"

"…nothing, Tai." Izzy sighed, still tapping away at his keyboard. "No. I don't think he was bothered by those stories."

Tai fell silent again and began to ponder to himself. Izzy continued to tap. A volleyball passed by the window in a red flash, followed closely by Biyomon. And Tai gasped. "Hey, do you think he likes Sora?"

"What?" Izzy looked up from his laptop again. "Why would you think that?"

"He looked really weird for a second when you joked about me and Sora today, down at the dock. And then when we were arguing he said that I should spend the night with her instead of him and…do you think he might like her? And that he's jealous of me, or something, because me and Sora are so close?"

"It's possible I suppose."

Tai got to his feet. "But I don't like Sora! He knows that."

"Then maybe that's not the problem."

"But what else could it be?"

"I don't know, Tai. Why don't you go and ask him instead of torturing yourself in here?"

"You think it'd help?"

"It can't do any harm."

"But, what if...?"

"Just do it."

"Yeah. You're right." Tai nodded, and bounced up and down on his feet once or twice. "I'll go talk to him, and I won't come back until I know what's what."

Tai left the room in a hurry, and Agumon scratched his head.

"Humans have such strange problems." Agumon said. "And I used to think we Digimon had it tough."

"Can we play volleyball yet Izzy?" Tentomon buzzed. "I don't like it in here, we..."

Izzy didn't really hear the Digimon though, stuck in his head as he was. He was thinking crazy, not to mention illogical, thoughts. Tai and Matt? It was implausible. He had read one too many of those romantic stories, and they had got to him - that was all. Because -

"Oh Izzy I wish you wouldn't zone out like that when I'm talking to you. I want to go outside." He whined.

"I'm sorry Tentomon." He closed his laptop. "Let's go."

-Because the idea of Tai liking Matt, and of Matt liking Tai, was absolutely impossible.

* * *

><p><strong>First things first: I used an extract from one of <span>Takato the dreamer's<span> (mature) fics, Detention, in this chapter. I like very many of his stories, but this one is a personal favourite of mine. It just has such character.**

**Moving on. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. As always, I'm very sorry for the wait. The first chapter of this fic was posted nearly a year ago, which means that it has only had four chapters within a whole year's worth of time. I'm not sure whether that suggests to you how busy I am, or whether it suggests a lack of motivation on my part. In truth, it's both. But don't worry, because this is not one of those stories that is going to be left in the cyber-dirt somewhere, abandoned. It may take some time, but I will definitely finish this.**

**Also - we're finally getting into some real Taito stuff! Exciting, no? This story has required a lot of building up, and in turn it has been lacking in romance so far. I apologise for that, but things are very quickly heading in the right direction now. Woo hoo!**

**Thank you very much for your time. I'll see ya when I next update.**


	5. Unheard Truths and Beach-side Rumours

**Catch up for you all since it's been a fair while since my last update: **

**Matt found a confession of love from Tai (?) hidden on a computer; he and Tai heard a dirty, fictional story about themselves being spoken over a phone; Matt nabbed a piece of paper from the pile of romance stories that Tai and Izzy had found in the fiction forest, and has kept it to himself. He has started avoiding the others.**

**Tai has taken particular offence with Matt's decision to not share a room with him at the Taito Resort. Following Izzy's advice, he goes to find Matt and talk, so that he can find out what the big problem is. Tai is unsure of whether he has done something wrong, or whether the stories about the two of them have simply freaked the child of friendship out. **

* * *

><p>Tai smiled awkwardly at Matt. He had found the blonde boy hanging about in the resort, playing the loner. Even Gabumon wasn't with him, which seemed strange since he usually hung to Matt like a furry shadow. "I'm sorry?" Tai offered, trying to break the quiet.<p>

"Why? What have you done this time?" Matt leaned against a corridor wall and frowned.

"Well, nothing. I just..."

"I swear, if it's something bad I'm going to flay you."

"What? No, it's nothing bad." Tai laughed gracelessly. "I mean, I don't know. I just figured I should apologise in case I've done something stupid, or hurt your feelings, or something."

"Oh." Matt loosened up, and his voice lost its hard tone. "Well, thanks. But you've not done anything wrong."

Tai smiled. "So does that mean we're cool?"

"Sure. Whatever. We're cool."

"Good." Tai said. "'Cause I hate it when you're angry at me, or when you're sad because of me. I just wanted to make sure I hadn't done anything..." He trailed off a little, noticing that Matt was suddenly staring at him with eyes that were shocked and shimmering.

Matt's lips parted slightly. "What did you...?"

"Wh-why are you looking at me like that?" Tai jumped back a step and half raised his fists. "What did I say now?"

"You hate it when I'm sad?"

"Of course I do." Tai said uneasily. "Now cut it out. C'mon, you're being creepy."

"I'm...sorry." Matt shook his head and abruptly ran away, a vulnerable edge to his voice.

"Wait up!" Tai lunged forward to pull the taller boy to the ground but missed. He regained himself and chased Matt down the corridor, not fast enough to catch up to the blonde but too fast to avoid running into the door that Matt had disappeared behind. He bumped into it and fell backwards onto his backside with a quiet whine.

"...are you ok?" Matt asked, hesitantly opening the door again to peek through the crack.

Tai looked up at Matt with a frustrated pout, eyebrows lowered. "Why are you running away from me?"

"Uh, nothing." Matt closed the door again, leaving Tai confused and sore, and still on the floor.

* * *

><p>Izzy was sat by a leafy tree at the side of the beach with his laptop open, idly watching as his friends played volleyball beneath a faded blue sky. It was unusually hot, considering that the afternoon was beginning to fade away. He wiped his forehead and looked down at his keyboard. On top of it lay a few sheets of paper – unread pages from the pile that was hidden in his and Tai's room. He had hoped to get through them in private, but since Tentomon had insisted on coming down to the beach he had brought them with him. He would just have to be careful about anybody else seeing.<p>

"What are those Izzy?" Joe asked, sitting down beside the redheaded boy all of a sudden.

Izzy cursed silently. "These? They're nothing important."

"Are they the same things you were reading in the forest when you and Tai fell behind the group earlier?" He asked, inquisitively. "C'mon, show me. If it's a secret then it's safe with me."

Izzy swallowed. "Well..."

* * *

><p>Matt closed his eyes and drummed his hands against his head, while mumbling about how stupid a person he was.<p>

"Maaaatt." Tai said from the other side of the door.

Possibly, Matt thought after a few more beats against the side of his skull, he had over-reacted a little bit. He definitely shouldn't have run away from Tai like that. It had riled the excitable brunet up and now Matt would never be able to brush him off.

"Come out so we can talk."

But what else should he have done?

"Or at least tell me what the problem is."

Tai had practically mimicked every word of the obsessively loving computer file from before, and that was really disturbing. And wrong. And kind of, he thought very quietly to himself, r_omantic_.

"You're being so weird today..."

And if he hadn't run away, then – his thoughts became super quiet again – he might have actually kissed Tai, until either his lips hurt or Tai punched him into his senses.

"If you won't come out then I'll come in, and I'll _make_ you tell me what's wrong. Don't think I won't!"

_I need a miracle to get out of this,_ Matt thought.

"That's it. I'm coming in!"

* * *

><p>"Have you been out in the sun for too long Izzy?" Mimi asked, holding a hand over him in a vague attempt at offering shade.<p>

Izzy frowned. "You don't think it's possible?"

"Well, they_ are_ always all over each other. But I just assumed it was platonic." Joe shrugged, rubbing his nose.

"So did I." Izzy offered. "But the more I think about it the more logical it seems."

Mimi giggled as she read from one of the pages. "Now that you mention it, they would make a pretty cute couple. Wouldn't they? And just imagine the babies!"

The two boys looked at each other, half-amused. "Er, Mimi?"

"What's going on over here guys?" Patamon interrupted, floating towards them with T.K. following in his wake.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean you can't hear me?" Matt asked.<p>

Tai smacked his ear a little and inserted a finger inside and jumped up and down on the spot.

"Knock it off would you?"

"I can't hear anything!" Tai hopped closer and grabbed at one of Matt's hands. "Help me!"

"Uh..." Matt froze, and tried to get over the skin to skin contact that had been thrust upon him. He had held hands with Tai before, but never without gloves on. And never in such a weird situation as this. "...you really can't hear?"

"What?" Tai shouted.

Matt cringed, and his thoughts darted about in a flustered panic. "This is not good."

"What are you just standing around for? Do something Matt!" Tai cried out.

"Shut up and let me think!"

Tai tilted his head, as if he had recognised that Matt was shouting.

Matt sighed. He squeezed Tai's hand tighter and wondered if they should go get help. "Man, I wish I knew sign language."

* * *

><p>"Let me get this straight." T.K. asked, puzzled. "You think my big brother loves Tai?"<p>

"No. Well, possibly." Izzy looked flustered. "I mean, it's not my place to spread these kinds of rumours."

"But now that you've brought it up, I can't help myself from seeing it." Joe scratched his head and sighed. "It seems kind of obvious now."

"I don't understand. I thought we all loved each other?" Biyomon offered, flapping around in a confused circle.

"I think they mean it in the romantic sense Biyomon." Tentomon buzzed.

"I suppose Tai might love Matt..." Kari offered. "But I'm not sure if Matt feels the same way."

"I wouldn't put it past him. He _does_ seem to get lost in Tai's eyes sometimes..." T.K. said, thoughtfully.

Mimi gasped. "I thought that it was normal for friends to do that?"

"Only as normal as it is for friends to have their hands in each other's pockets." Joe remarked.

"Or talk about each other all the time..." Kari said.

"Or share lunch every day..." T.K. added.

"The line between uncomfortably close friends and budding lovers is a blurry one. Really, we can only speculate on their relationship." Izzy suggested.

"True." Joe replied. "But if they are just friends, then they are so uncomfortably close that it makes me feel uncomfortable, too."

* * *

><p>"Maybe I'm under the spell of an evil Digimon!" Tai said, shivering where he stood.<p>

"..." Matt answered, utilizing a series of shrugs and meaningless hand gestures.

"Am I dying?"_  
><em>

"...!" Matt replied.

"I was fine a moment ago!"

Matt pulled back, and his shoulders drooped a little.

"What?"

"...?" Matt mouthed something that seemed like a question. And then he started to drag Tai back towards the door.

* * *

><p>"Tai does stare at Matt a lot when he thinks nobody's looking." Agumon said, earning nods of agreement from the group.<p>

Sora, the final person to join the discussion, crossed her arms. "But that doesn't mean he loves Matt, Agumon. And let's look at this logically. Tai couldn't be gay. He's too...you know." She motioned in the air with her hands.

"Good at sports?" T.K. offered

"Brave?" Gabumon suggested, a red volleyball impaled upon his horn.

"Dirty..." Mimi shivered.

Joe laughed. "I don't think any of those things make a difference."

"Oh..." The Digidestined bowed their heads a little.

"Tai wouldn't like us talking behind his back about him." Izzy said, taking a piece of paper from Palmon's hands and returning it to the others. "Forget about these stories, and about Tai and Matt. It's none of our business."

Most of the group agreed, and returned to their game of volleyball, after finally pulling the ball off of Gabumon's head. Izzy began to tap at his laptop absently. He wondered if Tai would punch him if he ever found out what they had been discussing, or if he would take it in his cheery stride. Perhaps, Izzy thought, it would be a little bit of both.

* * *

><p>"<em>If I Could Hear Your Voice<em>." Tai read from the plaque on Matt's door. "...what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm not sure." Matt frowned. Tai never thought he'd be so happy to hear his friend. "But you should probably avoid this room from now on Tai."

"Yeah. You don't have to tell me twice." Tai laughed quietly despite his lasting anxiety, and slung an arm around Matt's comfortable shoulders. "Maybe you should avoid it too. Since it's got such strange powers."

"Maybe..."

They stood close together like that for a few quiet moments, each listening to the vague sound of the other's breathing. Tai thought Matt's breath smelt sort of nice. "You know, if there aren't any more rooms left to stay in, you could always come share with me?" Tai asked hopefully.

Matt frowned. "Tai, I already told you..."

"I know. I know. But I thought, considering the situation, you could change your mind." He released Matt from his grip. "C'mon, would it be so bad to share a room with your best friend?"

"No. But it isn't-"

"And you shouldn't be alone on this strange island anyway."

Matt folded his arms. "I'll be with Gabumon."

"But you won't be with me, and we always do everything together." Tai argued. "C'mon. Why don't you want to?"

"It's not that I don't want to. I just don't think it'd be a good idea."

Tai tilted his head like a confused puppy. "How come?"

"Because, ah...um, actually, forget I said that." Matt struggled. His cheeks were flushing. "What I meant was..."

Tai huffed, impatiently. "Fine. Forget it, I'm tired of trying to figure you out." He shoved past the blonde. "I'm gonna go out and play in the sun before it's gone. And you can just mope around up here all day, all on your own, without me around, if you really want to so bad."

"But..." Matt tried, before abruptly changing his tone and blowing the hair out of his eyes. "Fine, whatever. I'll do that! Numb skull."

* * *

><p>"So. What do we think about Matt?" Mimi said, knocking the volley ball over the net towards Joe. It struck him in the face and he yelped.<p>

"Matt?" Gabumon repeated.

"Yep. Do we think he likes guys?" Mimi asked happily. "We discussed why Tai might, or might not, but what about blondie?"

"I thought we agreed not to talk about this." Sora said, knocking the ball back over the net. Tentomon grabbed it and hurled it back over at Joe.

"I know. But what Tai and Matt don't know won't hurt them." Mimi giggled.

T.K. laughed along with her. "You make a good point. But...don't tell my brother I said that."

"I don't understand what any of you are talking about." Gomamon asked with a typical laugh, padding his way along the volleyball area.

"Hey Gomamon. Where have you been?" Joe asked, pleased to see his companion.

"Swimming with the locals. I was asking around to see if they knew anything about the island, or the resort, but..."

"Nobody has any idea?" Gatomon purred, cynically.

"They know less than us." He sighed. "But I did learn something."

"What's that?"

"I'm really hungry." He laughed again.

"Very informative." Joe shook his head. "Though now that you mention it, I'm kinda hungry too. Do you think they have a kitchen up at the resort?"

"Guys, can we get back to the topic at hand?" Mimi interrupted, impatiently.

"What's that?

"Matt!" She answered excitedly, and a little scarily. "What do you think about him?"

"I don't know Mimi." Joe lamented. "Maybe? It's possible that he could like Tai. I mean, he's very...sensitive about him in particular."

The group hummed in agreement.

"That's a good point."

"I'm not so sure..." Sora said.

"Ok, I've got something. He's also so pretty and fashionable!"

The group hummed again.

Sora sighed. "But that doesn't make someone gay."

"But it certainly paints a picture." Mimi lectured, suddenly speaking as if she was an expert on the matter. "And you know what else? He's so effeminate sometimes."

"He is?" Kari asked with a laugh in her voice. "He might be sensitive now and then, but I'm not sure if he's girly."

"I agree with Kari. In a fight, he's happy to throw the first punch."

"And he's not afraid of danger either."

"Hey, I'm girly and I'm not afraid of danger!" Mimi interjected. "And Sora isn't afraid of throwing a punch. Although I guess...you're not really that feminine, are you Sora?" Mimi laughed sweetly.

Sora frowned, unsure of whether to be offended or not.

"He likes video games..." T.K. continued, a thoughtful frown on his face. "What does that mean?"

"Video games aren't really a factor here T.K."

Joe knocked the ball over the net and to the ground. "Realistically, how is anything we're talking about a real factor in whether Matt, or Tai, is gay?"

"What did you say Joe?" Tai asked, walking up to the group with his shirt off and his tanned torso exposed, ready to join in the game. He looked suddenly flustered. "I thought I heard my name."

"Oh. I was just-"

"We were just wondering where you were." Mimi butted in, smiling mischievously. "So, Tai. Have you been...having fun with Matt?"

* * *

><p>Matt sat uncomfortably on his bed with his treasured piece of paper held carefully in one hand. Phrases flashed against his eyes, and his lips quivered along with each word that he read.<p>

_"...tongue slipped into his mouth..."_

Even following his frustrating fight with Tai, and the embarrassment that came with nearly letting slip his thoughts, he could find some temporary peace of mind in fantasizing about the headstrong brunet. He rubbed against the protrusion in his crotch with the lower palm of his hand, and suppressed a small groan as he continued to read.

_"...took Tai's hand, placing it on his naked member..."_

Imagining that his hand was his obnoxious best friend's hand, he hurriedly unzipped himself and gripped his arousal through his underwear. His thumb hooked itself around the waistband, patiently waiting to unveil what was beneath. If only it was possible to do this with Tai for real, Matt thought. If only he could just unzip, release his hardened member from its confines, take hold of Tai's willing hand, and –

_"You're gay."_

Matt cursed under his breath, and evacuated his hand from his underwear with an irritated sigh.

He hated this place. It mocked him with fantasies that he couldn't resist, realities that he couldn't have, and truths that he was afraid of, all at the same time. He stood up, his erection still poking out from behind his underwear through the unzipped gap in his jeans, and unhappily concealed himself again. This adventure was supposed to be an escape from his worries. He wanted to explore, find monsters, defeat evil, be at risk of dying, anything that would distract him from himself. But instead the only thing to confront him was –

He walked out of the room again and went for a walk. His peace of mind was gone completely. Maybe he should just go and find Tai, and make things right between them, he thought, before things had a chance to get awkward.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey! :)<strong>

**This chapter had a big scene in it that was powered by KeruKeru's fic about a deaf Tai in love, called If I Could Hear Your Voice. It's very cool****. Go check it out. And then go and have a look at his other stuff too 'cause he's really ace. (Yeah I had to edit bits of this bit because I got it wrong...it's fine now though).**

**Also, you know that piece of paper that Matt nabbed in chapter 4, and was reading from at the end of this chapter? Written on it is a tiny, naughty little fic called Untitled, and it was written by the totally brilliant neo-chan. Look that name up.**

**:D**

**So, you wouldn't believe how many 'chapter 5's I scrapped before ending up with this one. Geez. It was like, no matter what I did I just couldn't write anything half decent. Even now, I'm worried that what I've uploaded here isn't great. But I figured I've gotta just stop worrying and get something done or I'll drive myself nuts running in poorly scripted circles. So...yeah. This is what it is, and I hope it was alright! **

_**Tune in next time for: extended scenes involving WET TOPLESS GUYS, and some /DREAMY/ kissing. ;D **_

**All the love in the fanficcy world to you fabulous people who keep coming back to read this. Please tell me your thoughts. I would be really, really freakin' grateful. :)**


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